Learn in Your Own Time: Understanding PICA
Live training does not always fit neatly into real life.
Work schedules, caring responsibilities, shift patterns, and everyday demands can make it difficult to commit to a specific date and time.
Sometimes, we also learn better when we can set our own pace.
That is why we developed our PICA self-paced course: to help you build your knowledge and understanding in a way that works around you.
What Is PICA?
PICA is characterised by persistently eating or ingesting items that are not typically considered food, or that have little or no nutritional value.
Yet a definition alone does not help us understand the person experiencing PICA.
Many factors may influence PICA, including sensory needs, a preference for textures or sensations, nutritional factors, emotional regulation, the environment, and individual patterns of behaviour.
For those supporting someone who experiences PICA, concerns about health and safety are understandable. As a result, the immediate focus can become stopping the behaviour.
Effective support, however, asks us to look beyond what we can see and become curious about what may be contributing to it.
Moving Beyond the Behaviour
At TSK Academy, we encourage people to move beyond asking only:
“How do we stop this?”
and instead begin asking:
“What might this be communicating, or what need might it be meeting for this person?”
Understanding the possible function or need behind a behaviour can transform how we respond.
Instead of relying only on restriction, correction, or supervision, we can consider the person, their environment, and their sensory experiences, then identify supports that reduce risk while protecting dignity and autonomy.
This is especially important when supporting Autistic people, people with an intellectual disability, and others who experience PICA alongside sensory, communication or regulation needs.
Learning That Fits Around You
Our self-paced PICA course lets you work through the learning whenever it suits you.
There are no fixed training date and no need to rearrange your working day. You can pause, revisit key ideas, and take time to consider how the learning relates to the people you support.
That flexibility can be particularly valuable for busy professionals, educators, support workers, health and social care teams, parents, and carers.
Who Is This Course For?
This course is designed for anyone who wants to understand PICA more clearly and support people in a safer, more informed, and person-centred way.
·Educators and school staff
·Support workers and care teams
·Healthcare and social care professionals
·Parents, carers, and family members
·Anyone seeking a practical, person-centred understanding of PICA.
Whether you are new to the topic or building on existing experience, you can work through the material at your own pace and apply it in your own setting.
Self-paced learning also offers something live training cannot always provide time to reflect before moving on.
You can reflect on your current practice, recognise where approaches may need to change and identify practical steps for your own setting.
From Understanding to Practice
The course is designed to do more than provide information about PICA.
It helps you think differently about how we understand and respond to it.
When we understand more about what may sit behind a behaviour, we are better equipped to provide support that considers safety, sensory needs, communication, regulation, dignity, and the individual.
Because good support should never be about managing a behaviour in isolation.
It should be about understanding the person experiencing it.
Learn at your pace. Reflect on your practice. Turn understanding into action.
